Simpler. There are enough mid-market hearing aids. So why make another one? you might ask...

Transcription

1 Simpler There are enough mid-market hearing aids. So why make another one? you might ask...

2 Because, until now, no-one could provide a single answer for the 7 out of 10 users who choose a mid-market device. Normal mid-market hearing aids do not include all the most effective digital features such as adaptive directionality, noise reduction, open fittings and feedback cancellation. Tego does. However, it s easy to add features, but to create an advanced hearing aid that is still straightforward to fit and easy to wear, is not so simple. By rethinking the approach to the mid-market, Tego conquers the demands of diversity and price range within one product idea. And Tego is easy to wear due to a concept called DecisionMaker, enabled by Artificial Intelligence. DecisionMaker makes sure that all features come into play in the right combination, at the right time, in every situation automatically. This is, and always has been, the unspoken wish of every user. Fulfilling everybody s wish will make... Tego the New Normal.

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4 A fuller feature list One idea, two products Make it simpler Our idea was to make a mid-market product that not only performs better, but is simpler in all respects. Conventional wisdom suggests that as the number of features goes up, a more complicated product results. DecisionMaker reverses this logic, where simplicity is actually increased through the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI).... and leave the old normal behind. Tego comes in two versions Tego Pro and Tego. Sharing basic characteristics, they effectively span your mid-market clients in terms of prices and needs. However, you fit both in exactly the same way, which means that you do not need to invest extra time when learning and using the software. Tego Pro and Tego simply represent an unheard of degree of sophistication for mid-market products. TEGO PRO DecisionMaker AI enabled general program Identities (Dynamic, Active, Gradual) simple & accurate fitting All styles directional except CIC / MIC VoiceDirect mode speech-focused directional mode Adaptive Directionality high precision in attenuating noise Automatic Directionality switches automatically between two modes Surround mode enhanced omni-directional mode WideRange Bandwidth gives a fuller sound picture Noise Management multi-band noise reduction OpenEar Acoustics the most open fitting Dynamic Feedback Cancellation without gain reduction Wide Dynamic Range Compression increased audibility 6 channels simple & accurate fitting 4 programs optional programs if required DecisionMaker is the general program in Tego Pro and Tego. It is also key to their performance and versatility. Identities define the aggressiveness and speed by which DecisionMaker introduces changes. VoiceDirect is a new type of directional system, developed to focus on voices, yet keep them sounding clear and natural. Adaptive Directionality increases precision when attenuating noise in challenging situations by suppressing moving and stationary noise sources from the sides and behind. Until now, this feature has only been available in high-priced products. From today, Tego Pro brings Adaptive Directionality within the reach of many more clients. In addition, The Pro presents a fuller sound picture thanks to its WideRange Bandwidth. This allows a wider frequency response in the instrument to improve the overall sound quality. TEGO Tego has all the features of The Pro, including DecisionMaker, VoiceDirect, OpenEar Acoustics, Dynamic Feedback Cancellation and more. However, compared to Tego Pro it has: Fixed Directionality less precision in attenuating noise Standard Bandwidth a less broad frequency response 4 channels and 3 programs less fitting flexibility Less than The Pro, but much more than anything else you ll find its in price class, Tego is the new reference for general hearing care in the lower end of the mid-market.

5 DecisionMaker = hands-free operation of advanced features How are users supposed to know when to be in directional mode? And how quickly can they respond? How often will they do so? They won t, they can t and they don t. Until now, most directional systems have lacked the sophistication necessary to be a real user benefit. VOICE DIRECT DECISIONMAKER IDENTITIES AUTOMATIC DIRECTIONALITY DECISIONMAKER DecisionMaker, together with VoiceDirect changes the game by interleaving the advanced features in Tego. In doing so it unleashes the true potential of directionality. DECISIONMAKER GRADUAL DYNAMIC More specifically it determines whether the Surround mode or the directional approach VoiceDirect, would provide the best combination of speech clarity and comfort. This is achieved through Artificial Intelligence techniques involving parallel processing. The selected outcome is then implemented instantaneously and automatically. Although the calculations are made instantly, the speed at which changes are introduced to the user needs to be carefully controlled. Different users have different requirements. Therefore Identities are used to set the parameters of DecisionMaker for a particular person. These Identities are simple to adjust according to your client s cognitive abilities and preferences. NOISE MANAGEMENT ACTIVE DECISIONMAKER SURROUND The intelligence and responsiveness of DecisionMaker 1 means that your client needs no other program 2. They don t need to worry about settings, they don t need to worry about adjustments. It just works, correctly, all the time. By deploying AI to make outcome-based decisions Tego s approach is fundamentally different from conventional prediction-based hearing instruments. The practical result is better acceptance by the client and longer daily use. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the science of designing systems to perform intelligently in a manner beyond the merely mechanical. AI is deployed in the newest generation of advanced hearing instruments to continuously evaluate and automatically select the best possible outcome from multiple processing alternatives. 1. DecisionMaker also controls the lower level functions of Wide Dynamic Range Compression and Dynamic Feedback Cancellation. 2. For special situations, up to four manually selected programs are available, if needed. AI represents a significant progression for modern hearing care, as the improvements it delivers are otherwise impossible to achieve given the unpredictability of real-life sound environments.

6 How makes more than 2 Conventional directional systems, however good, involve trade-offs and unwanted side effects. For instance, to compensate for the standard low cut filtering found in traditional systems, it is necessary to provide more gain in the lower frequencies to maintain a proper sense of loudness. This might end up masking the higher frequencies, which reduces speech understanding and tends to make voices sound unnatural. VoiceDirect sidesteps these and other limitations. Due to the way the VoiceDirect and Noise Management work together, Tego provides all the benefits of speech clarity AND comfort without compromises. VoiceDirect and Noise Management VoiceDirect is a new directional system which extracts speech from noise. In conjunction with the Noise Management system, VoiceDirect performs a two-pronged attack on extraneous noise. As shown in the graphs opposite, VoiceDirect applies directionality to frequencies where the speech information is greatest, i.e. in the higher range; Noise Management is then applied judiciously at these frequencies. 1 SPEECH IMPORTANCE FUNCTION Speech Component Vowels: F1 Glides Aim: Our aim is to reduce noise while keeping the speech understanding and loudness. In terms of the graph opposite we want to reduce the noise, and reveal more of the speech components. Nasality Voicing & Suprasegmentals The graph above shows how the relative importance for speech components varies with frequency. In particular, it shows how higher frequency components are relatively more important than the lower ones. The understanding of speech comes mostly from the higher frequencies while loudness of speech comes mostly from the lower frequencies. NOISE Vowels: F2 OMNI BACKGROUND NOISE Liquids Affricate Bursts Plosive Bursts F2 Transitions Vowels: F3 Fricatives FREQUENCY (HZ.) VOICEDIRECT RELATIVE IMPORTANCE DIRECTIONALITY By contrast, in the range which determines speech loudness, i.e the lower frequencies, VoiceDirect remains in omni- LOUDNESS UNDERSTANDING F REQUENCY directional mode. Since this is also where most noise is found, Noise Management can be applied more strongly, whilst voices remain clear and sounding natural. The result is that all the important voice components are preserved, while noise is reduced to a minimum. In addition the loudness aspect of speech is maintained, 2 Solution: Treat the loudness and understanding frequencies differently. A: Noise in understanding frequencies is mainly attenuated by directionality. Careful noise reduction is also applied. NOISE OMNI B: Attenuation by noise reduction VOICEDIRECT DIRECTIONALITY Yet another benefit of this approach is the ability to localize sounds thanks to the combination of VoiceDirect with OpenEar Acoustics. By allowing some sounds to enter the ear from all directions, the brain can identify the B: Loudness frequencies remain omni-directional. Strong noise reduction can be applied without dramatically affecting understanding. LOUDNESS A: Attenuation by directionality and noise reduction UNDERSTANDING F REQUENCY location of the source. So, it s no longer adequate to talk about directional systems and noise reduction systems in isolation. Intelligent synergies that rise above easy compromises are part of the new definition of mid-market modern hearing care. 3 Result: Better speech understanding with minimal noise and a less fatiguing listening experience. NOISE OMNI VOICEDIRECT DIRECTIONALITY RESULTANT NOISE LOUDNESS UNDERSTANDING F REQUENCY

7 Give your clients what they want What do clients want from their hearing aid? They want something that is instantly comfortable, enhances hearing in all situations and is trouble free. Now you can give them what they are asking for. TEGO provides Better speech understanding in noise Minimal occlusion No feedback Hands-free operation Less fatigue No worries about whether the aid is set properly Comfort Natural sounding voices Better sense of location Less instructions to remember Full support and full control Reliable performance For the majority of your mid-market clients there s probably a Tego that fits and at a price that suits them.

8 Making it easier to provide better care Tego was conceived to give you more time for client counselling. The beauty of DecisionMaker is that you don t NEED to explain so many hard-to-grasp technologies and instructions. Instead, you can concentrate on ensuring your clients needs and expectations are correctly addressed, with dramatic effects on clinical productivity. Counselling Important studies have demonstrated that spending quality time in the counselling and fitting process leads to fewer adjustments and follow-up visits, as well as higher levels of initial acceptance and client satisfaction. You don t need anything other than the Tego products to cover your entire mid-market. You will discover many efficiencies come from having a single solution for most clients. Less software, less inventory, less spare parts, less training, less reading, more styles, more colours, more prices, more versatility all in all, more straightforward operations. Tego is a concept that delivers both effectiveness and efficiency. However, this takes more than products alone. The Tego portfolio covers everything from traffic-building marketing to comprehensive aftercare, including: The new Genie 6.0, which gives better, right first time fittings meaning greater client satisfaction and fewer follow-up appointments. Electronic Client Assisted Product Selection (e-caps) that guides you and the client through the process of determining actual needs and requirements. Tego Live, which shows in an easy-to-understand way, how DecisionMaker and VoiceDirect work for the benefit of the client. Providing quality hearing care will never be a matter of plug and play. It requires too much expert knowledge and experience. However, the Tego philosophy is to make things simpler wherever possible.

9 Getting started with Tego Although Tego is packed with features, sounds great and is easy to use, success requires much more than a good product. The actual hardware is just one part of a larger process that involves finding suitable clients, staff training, counselling, fitting, trial, client education and after-care. Therefore, in addition to the creation of Tego, a support system has been developed around the instruments. Some elements of this system are shown on these pages, illustrating how straightforward it is to get started with Tego. So, why not rethink your mid-market provision around Tego? Learning about Tego Product Brochure Product Information Leaflet E-seminar Dispenser Website ( Support (Telephone & Account Manager) Dispenser Website Generating Traffic Mailings (New + Existing Users) Newspaper Ads Consumer Website ( Public Relations Mailings to new and existing users

10 Counselling e-caps Tego Live COSI /03.05 printed in Denmark e-caps Tego Live Fitting and Fine Tuning Genie Genie Sound Studio Fitting Guide (in Product Information Leaflet) Quick Fitting Guide (Mouse Pad) Genie 6.0 Genie Sound Studio Trial and Use Expectation Brochures Demo Products User Instructions Diary We believe that it takes more than technology and audiology to create the best hearing instruments. That s why we put the individual needs and wishes of people with hearing loss first in our development of new hearing care solutions. Expectation Brochure (experienced users) Expectation Brochure (new users) User Instructions Office Preparation Banner Posters (4) Postcards (4) Postcard Holder Ellipse Stand Banner Postcards

11 Hardware configurations Full list of features TYPE STANDARD OPTIONS BATTERY Max. db HL Tego Pro DecisionMaker Identities Tego DecisionMaker Identities BTE Power Directional Telecoil Volume Control All styles directional (except CIC / MIC) Adaptive Directionality Automatic Directionality All styles directional (except CIC / MIC) Automatic Directionality VoiceDirect mode BTE Directional Telecoil Volume Control VoiceDirect mode Surround mode Noise Management WideRange Bandwidth Surround mode Noise Management OpenEar Acoustics Dynamic Feedback Cancellation OpenEar Acoustics Wide Dynamic Range Compression ITE Directional Volume Control (Only with 13) Telecoil Auto Phone Volume Control (Only with 13) 13 or Dynamic Feedback Cancellation Wide Dynamic Range Compression 6 channels 4 programs 4 channels 3 programs Auto Phone Phone programs ITC Directional (Only with 312) Auto Phone 312 or Auto Phone Phone programs NAL NL1, DSL i/o NAL NL1, DSL i/o MIC New Terminology DecisionMaker General program, enabled by Artificial Intelligence Identities 3 settings (Gradual, Active, Dynamic) that minimise fine-tuning VoiceDirect New directional system. Works together with Noise Management CIC WideRange Bandwidth Full range frequency response Auto Phone Automatic switch on ITC/ITE products that switches to a Phone program Phone programs Phone programs developed specifically for telephone usage Colours available CIC ITE BTE BTE Transparent cool colours